I hesitate to write a review because I do not want to waste even another minute on this tedious work of fiction. I was mildly annoyed at the beginningI hesitate to write a review because I do not want to waste even another minute on this tedious work of fiction. I was mildly annoyed at the beginning at the non-linear storytelling, which was not executed well in this book. The author jumps between seven to eight different time-frames in the protaganist's life from paragraph to paragraph without headings or segues. The reader has to discern contextually from the names and places the main character uses where she is in the story. It made the threads of the story unnecessarily difficult to follow, especially in the beginning.

At some points the author did a good job creating empathetic moments for the main character (particularly with regard to her feeling of isolation in foreign culture), but for most of the book I felt disconnected from her actions and feelings since I did not get to follow the emotional arc that led her to that moment.

By two-thirds of the way through the book I just wanted it to be over, but I declined to abandon it after having already sunk my time and attention into it. I felt resentful and unfulfilled when I finally got to the climactic ending. It was meant to be dramatic, but it felt cheap to me, a way to sensationalize what could have already been a solid story.

I also questioned the depiction of Middle Easterners and Islam. It not only seemed a bit stereotypical and negative, it also felt unrealistic to me. Perhaps it is not, but then the author could have done a better job relating the culture....more

This is a quick and serviceable read. A group of servants help their pleasant but seemingly incompetent police inspector boss solve a murder made to lThis is a quick and serviceable read. A group of servants help their pleasant but seemingly incompetent police inspector boss solve a murder made to look like a suicide. The real mystery was whether the servants have any actual work to do, and, if so, how they manage to get it done when when they are out everyday scouring the city for clues.

The premise of the well-intentioned "downstairs" staff accomplishing through their wit and creativity what their social betters cannot is cute. The book was fairly well-paced and entertaining enough, though a bit trite and fanciful. You definitely have to suspend belief at how poorly investigated the murder is, how perfectly the evidence unravels for the characters, and how they are repeatedly able to tamper with evidence without consequence. And in the end, the reveal of the culprit seemed more of a fluke than the result of any cunning by the characters.

While the book was enjoyable enough, I don't know that I'll reach for another in this series; if I have to read the words "cor blimey" or "blast a Spaniard" one more time, it will be too soon. It definitely felt like the author was straining for Victorian verisimilitude by overusing forced, British vernacular. ...more

This book, though not long, was twice as long as it needed to be. The conceit is that this story is not just about the central murder mystery, but aboThis book, though not long, was twice as long as it needed to be. The conceit is that this story is not just about the central murder mystery, but about how the mystery interplays with the jurors' own stories and accordant biases. The first half of the book is about the jurors, and the second half is about the murder and the trial.

Unfortunately, the first half of the book is a slog because most of the jurors' lives are not particularly interesting. It is not just that the jurors' lives are not compelling (save one or two, like the one who also committed a murder); there is very little pay-off for it. The few juror impressions and thoughts conveyed during the trial add nothing to the central story, and the jury deliberations were raced through in just a few pages, leaving no chance of an interesting debate between the characters. 12 Angry Men this is not. The author's strength does seem to lay in characterization; each character is distinct and vivid. However, once the character is created, it as though the author does not know what to do with them other than continue to highlight their character traits. With the exception of the characters central to the murder, these traits do not move the plot along or shed any insight on other characters' actions. It feels superficial in the end.

The central mystery-- when you finally get to it-- is interesting enough. It is not as suspenseful as a Sherlock Holmes or Agatha Christie tale, but it aroused enough emotion in me that I felt invested in the outcome of the trial and interested enough to finish the book....more

"The Power of Sympathy" was utterly tedious. It is basically a moralistic lecture thinly diRead it for "The Coquette." Chuck "The Power of Sympathy."

"The Power of Sympathy" was utterly tedious. It is basically a moralistic lecture thinly disguised as an epistolary novel. The characters, who are barely differentiated, wax poetic at length about how literature read for pleasure can corrupt young girls and how they should take care to only read things that will contribute to their moral growth. This is clearly the author's voice coming through, and this "novel" seems a transparent attempt to get his pedantic lectures to appeal to youth. I have no idea whether this weak attempt at literature was appealing then, but it certainly is not now. I will give it this, though: it did have a surprise twist that I did not see coming, but that twist was the only interesting part of the story.

"The Coquette," on the other hand, was a quick-paced and entertaining read. The main character, Eliza, was surprisingly complex and relateable, which made the story feel rather subversive, perhaps more so than intended by the author. Eliza expresses strident criticism of the institution of marriage and sets her intention to play the field for as long as she can to avoid the dull future that marriage ensures. This sets the tension for the story as she tries to balance her own desires against societal expectations and her sense of duty. But what makes the story especially interesting is that it is not just a woman's conflict against society; she is also at conflict with herself, torn between her rational mind and her emotional mind, between instant gratification and long-term outcomes. I think many a modern person can relate to her feeling torn between the decent yet dull man she knows to be the better match and the more exciting man whom she knows is the inferior choice but who responds to a more primal longing. Eliza is also an excellent representation of how one can deceive oneself when viewing a person through the lens of infatuation. So while the time period and courtship rituals contained in this novel are long past, the content is still completely relevant today. ...more

The vast portion of this book was such a slog to get through. There is a reason why it took me four years to complete this book. I really had to forceThe vast portion of this book was such a slog to get through. There is a reason why it took me four years to complete this book. I really had to force myself to finish it.

After Ruth's fall from grace, the book drags on interminably with repetitive descriptions of how penitent and Christian Ruth is. Gaskell apparently thought that the best and maybe only way to foster compassion for her main character was to have her constantly feeling shame and contrition. Unfortunately, it quickly grew tiresome and undermined Gaskell's other theme about how disproportionate the punishment was to the supposed crime. The emphasis on Ruth's penitence seemed to suggest that a lifetime of social opprobrium would be appropriate if Ruth had not abundantly repented, which is a jarring message in these contemporary times.

The book does start to pick up again towards the end when the plot action resumes, temporarily displacing the repetitive motif of how Ruth's goodness is such that it impresses everyone. It is rather horrifying to see illustrated how badly and effectively Christian patriarchy stigmatized sex and how much women were punished for it, but there are more interesting books that deal with the same theme. ...more

It was a bit tedious... not nearly as much fun as the prequel. The story was rather empty without Lorelei's actions and reasoning. Dorothy was so wittIt was a bit tedious... not nearly as much fun as the prequel. The story was rather empty without Lorelei's actions and reasoning. Dorothy was so witty in the first that I expected to love this, but her wit was not as sharp in this book and there was less of it. I kind of just slogged through it so I could say I finished it. ...more